Chassis assembly for a delivery vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11850987-B2
Application number	US-201816967088-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 21, 2018
Priority date	Feb 21, 2018
Publication date	Dec 26, 2023
Grant date	Dec 26, 2023

Abstract

The chassis assembly (3) includes a vehicle chassis (4) extending along a longitudinal direction (D1); a first supporting part (6) configured to support a first load unit (7.1) on a first longitudinal side (4.1) of the vehicle chassis (4); a second supporting part (8) configured to support a second load unit (7.2) on a second longitudinal side (4.2) of the vehicle chassis (4) opposite to the first longitudinal side (4.1); and a lifting device (5) secured to the vehicle chassis (4) and configured to lift up and down the first and second supporting parts (6, 8) with respect to the vehicle chassis (4) so as to vertically displace each of first and second load units (7.1, 7.2) supported by the first and second supporting parts (6, 8) between a loading/unloading position and a driving position.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A chassis assembly for a delivery vehicle, the chassis assembly including at least:
a vehicle chassis extending along a longitudinal direction,
a first supporting part configured to support a first load unit on a first longitudinal side of the vehicle chassis,
a second supporting part configured to support a second load unit on a second longitudinal side of the vehicle chassis opposite to the first longitudinal side,
a lifting device secured to the vehicle chassis and configured to lift up and down the first and second supporting parts with respect to the vehicle chassis so as to vertically displace each of the first and second load units supported by the first and second supporting parts between a loading/unloading position and a driving position;
wherein:
the first supporting part comprises a first supporting frame secured to the lifting device and located on the first longitudinal side of the vehicle chassis;
the second supporting part comprises a second supporting frame secured to the lifting device and located on the second longitudinal side of the vehicle chassis; and
the chassis assembly further comprises:
a first guiding part configured to slidably guide the first supporting frame during vertical movements of the first supporting frame with respect to the vehicle chassis and to prevent rotation of the first supporting frame with respect to the vehicle chassis; and
a second guiding part configured to slidably guide the second supporting frame during vertical displacements of the second supporting frame with respect to the vehicle chassis and to prevent rotation of the second supporting frame with respect to the vehicle chassis.

2. The chassis assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first supporting part includes at least one first attachment member configured to cooperate with at least one attachment element provided on the first load unit, and the second supporting part includes at least one second attachment member configured to cooperate with at least one attachment element provided on the second load unit.

3. The chassis assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lifting device includes a fixed lower part secured to the vehicle chassis and a movable upper part vertically movable relative to the fixed lower part.

4. The chassis assembly of claim 3 , wherein the lifting device further includes an actuator configured to vertically move the movable upper part relative to the fixed lower part.

5. The chassis assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first supporting frame and the second supporting frame are secured to a movable upper part of the lifting device, and wherein the lifting device includes a fixed lower part secured to the vehicle chassis and the movable upper part is vertically movable relative to the fixed lower part.

6. The chassis assembly of claim 5 , wherein the first supporting frame and the second supporting frame are hanging from the movable upper part of the lifting device.

7. The chassis assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first supporting part further includes a pair of first attachment members secured to the first supporting frame and configured to cooperate with respective attachment elements provided on both lateral sides of a first load unit intended to be supported by the first supporting part, and the second supporting part further includes a pair of second attachment members secured to the second supporting frame and configured to cooperate with respective attachment elements provided on both lateral sides of a second load unit intended to be supported by the second supporting part.

8. The chassis assembly of claim 7 , wherein each of the pairs of the first and second attachment members is elongated and extends substantially horizontally.

9. The chassis assembly of claim 8 , wherein each of the pairs of the first and second attachment members extends substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle chassis.

10. The chassis assembly of claim 7 , wherein each of the first attachment members is removably secured to the first supporting frame, and each of the second attachment members is removably secured to the second supporting frame.

11. The chassis assembly of claim 7 , wherein each of the pairs of the first and second attachment members is foldable between an attachment position in which it extends substantially horizontally and a folded position.

12. The chassis assembly of claim 7 , wherein the first supporting part further includes a first protection member forming a first side under-run protection, and the second supporting part further includes a second protection member forming a second side under-run protection.

13. The chassis assembly of claim 12 , wherein the first protection member is configured to cooperate with a first load unit supported by the first supporting part so as to prevent translation of said first load unit with respect to the first supporting frame, and the second protection member is configured to cooperate with a second load unit supported by the second supporting part so as to prevent translation of said second load unit with respect to the second supporting frame.

14. The chassis assembly of claim 1 , wherein the chassis assembly includes:
several first supporting parts longitudinally offset from each other and each configured to support a respective first load unit on the first longitudinal side of the vehicle chassis,
several second supporting parts longitudinally offset from each other and each configured to support a respective second load unit on the second longitudinal side of the vehicle chassis, and
several lifting devices longitudinally offset from each other and each configured to lift up and down a respective first supporting part and a respective second supporting part.

Assignees

• Volvo Truck Corp

Inventors

• Caux Denis
• Barbier Jean-Roch
• Gronsfeld Thierry
• Fatet Carole

Classifications

• B60P1/6445 Primary

  the load-transporting element being shifted only vertically · CPC title

• B60P1/02

  with parallel up-and-down movement of load supporting or containing element (in combination with tipping B60P1/34; devices for lifting or lowering bulky or heavy goods for loading or unloading purposes, movable on wheels or the like, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/06 {; suspensions with electronic levelling control during loading or unloading B60G17/0157}) · CPC title

• B60P1/6409

  details, accessories, auxiliary devices · CPC title

• B60P1/6481

  Specially adapted for carrying different numbers of container or containers of different sizes · CPC title

• B60P3/007 Primary

  for delivery of small articles, e.g. milk, frozen articles · CPC title